Thursday, January 21, 2016

If you are a resident of,
or frequent visitor to, Utah, something you will experience at meals are
dessert salads.What exactly are dessert
salads?Side dishes made with Jell-O
(gelatin and/or pudding), whipped toppings, fruits, vegetables, mayonnaise, sour
cream, even pasta. These salads are served at buffets, in cafeterias, potlucks,
parties; basically any type of gathering where food will be served, even
funerals. Easy to be prepared ahead of time, holding up well during
transportation; even though there are sweet ingredients, these dishes are
classified more as salads, but make great desserts as well.Hence, the term, “dessert salad”.

Now I’ve read in personal
stories, and heard personal tales, of Jell-O being the number one “food group”,
not just for Utahns, but for Mormons in general.It is not unusual for every good Mormon woman
to have, in her recipe book, at minimum, ten Jell-O based recipes.I am definitely not sure of the truth of
this, so did some historical digging about Jell-O.In 1845, industrialist, Peter Cooper (built
the first American steam powered locomotive, The Tom Thumb) invented a powdered
gelatin.However, 1897 saw New Yorker
(yay NY!) cough syrup manufacturer, Pearle Bixby Wait, trademark a gelatin
product he and his wife, May, called “Jell-O”.They added fruit flavoring to granulated gelatin and sugar; and a new
dessert was given life.

In 2001, Jell-O was designated,
by Utah Legislature, the number one snack food of the state; our tax dollars at
work!However, media food analysts found
very little mention of the product between 1969 and 1988; in fact, it was
written that Lutherans were the biggest lovers of Jell-O.That changed in 1997 when Kraft Foods
introduced “Jell-O Jigglers” to the market;sales
figures revealed Salt Lake City to have the highest per-capita Jell-O
consumption.At that time, comedian Bill
Cosby was the spokesperson for the much loved product and stated to the 2001
Utah Legislature, “I believe the reason people in Utah love Jell-O is that the
snack is perfect for families -- and the people of Utah are all about family.”…and this is how we get to the first sentence
of this current paragraph.

The recipe I am giving you
is for “Pretzel Salad”, a combination of fruit laden Jell-O with cream cheesy
decadence over buttery, crunchy pretzels.Actually, I will be doing the story about Dessert Salads in several
parts to show the variations; and who knows, you might be serving a new
creation at your next get-together.

Pretzel Salad

(This is a three step
process of ingredients plus directions)

Step One:

Ingredients:

2 cups crushed, salted
pretzels

¼ cup sugar

1 (8 Tbsp.) stick butter,
melted

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350'F.

Combine pretzels, sugar
and butter together; press into the bottom of a 9” x13” glass baking dish.Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and
cool completely.

Step Two:

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) package cream
cheese

1 cup sugar

1 (8 oz.) container of
original Cool Whip

Preparation:

Combined the cream cheese
with sugar; whip until smooth; fold in the Cool Whip. Spread this mixture
evenly over the top of cooled pretzel crust, and seal all the edges.Place in refrigerator for a half hour to
slightly firm up.

Step Three:

Ingredients:

1 (6 oz.) box of
strawberry Jell-O

2 cups boiling water

2 (16 oz.) bags of frozen
strawberries

Preparation:

Combine the Jell-O and
water; stir until gelatin is dissolved; add in the frozen strawberries and
allow to thicken slightly.Pour mixture
over the cream cheese layer; spread out berries if necessary.Cover baking dish with plastic wrap and
refrigerate a minimum of four hours if serving the same day; or overnight if
serving the next day.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Note: This recipe can be
created with other berry Jell-O flavors with accompanying berries such as
raspberry, blackberry, cherry or blueberry.